caramel sauce

Last weekend I went to dinner at a friends house and brought an apple caramel cake for desert. I nearly always experiment when I take deserts (if it turns out dismal I can always pick up something at the store) and this was the first time I made this apple caramel cake. I received adequate compliments, but the real star was the homemade caramel sauce. I five minutes you can have an incredibly easy, delicious sauce. There was more sauce than cake so I paired it with some vanilla ice cream.

Homemade Caramel Sauce

1 stick butter (1/2 c.)

1 c. brown sugar

1 t. vanilla (or maple) extract

1/2 c. half and half

Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a small saucepan. Add sugar and stir until melted. Add flavoring and whisk in half and half. Remove from heat. Reheat before serving.